Last week at the United Nations General Assembly First Committee, a joint civil society statement endorsed by Teachers for Peace and organisations around the world, called for greater attention to disarmament education and the role of young people in peace.
The statement includes a call to bring disarmament education in from “the periphery”:
…disarmament, arms control and nonproliferation policymaking is made to seem distant from our everyday lives, a space only for elites and experts. This disenfranchises us. The few mentions of youth and/or disarmament education in delegations’ First Committee statements so far have been brief, often at the very end of their interventions. We encourage you to offer substantive input, committing to action and reporting on your existing initiatives. We believe that disarmament education should not be a peripheral subject, but a core element to achieving a peaceful and secure world. The desire to shield young people from the unpleasant realities of the world can sometimes keep us from helping you to solve the very real challenges we all share, across generations. Indeed many young people are living these unpleasant realities and deserve our solidarity.
A version of the statement was delivered verbally: watch it here. Or download the full statement.